The Denver Post’s Seth Klamann reports that ICE intends to expand detention capacity in Colorado by reopening multiple rural sites and modestly increasing beds in Aurora. Planning documents indicate three targets: the closed Hudson Correctional Facility, the CoreCivic prison in Walsenburg, and 28 additional beds at the Southern Ute Detention Center in Ignacio. Aurora’s cap would rise from 1,360 beds to 1,530. The Hudson and Walsenburg moves are expected before the year’s end, according to the documents.
If all three facilities come online, Colorado’s detention capacity would jump from 1,360 to just over 4,000. A DHS spokesperson told the Washington Post the planning list is legitimate but outdated, with contracts not yet accurate. Protesters planned to gather outside the Walsenburg prison on Friday to oppose its rumored conversion to an ICE site.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Three Colorado sites are in play: Hudson, Walsenburg, and a small add at Ignacio. Aurora inches up to 1,530 beds. Expansion before year end is the plan on paper.
- Total capacity would more than triple if all pieces land, from 1,360 to slightly above 4,000. That is not a tweak. That is a surge.
- DHS confirms the planning docs are real, then cautions that parts are outdated and contracts are not final. Bureaucracy never misses a chance to hedge.
- CoreCivic says it is in regular contact with ICE and will follow procurement rules. Translation: they are ready when Uncle Sam is.
- Activists planned a protest at Walsenburg against a possible ICE conversion. Rumor plus megaphone equals weekend hobby.
My Bottom Line
This is good news. In a state that has spent years preening as a sanctuary, with no real handle on who crossed the southern border and set up shop in our neighborhoods, an ICE expansion is a rare step toward enforcing federal statute and improving public safety. Colorado law ties hands. This does the opposite.
And about that line: “Protesters planned to hold a protest outside of the Walsenburg prison Friday, opposing its rumored turn to an ICE facility.” What exactly are these likely paid agitators planning to protest. The government doing its job. Federal statute being obeyed. The public being made safer. If they want open borders, fewer removals, and more chaos, they should say it into a microphone. Then voters can decide if that is the Colorado they want.
